Dublin Is Where My Heart Lies
by MelBurt
Summary: Meredith has an anger issue and is under the guardian care of her grandmother now who just so happens to live in Dublin, Ireland. That's where Meredith finds herself meeting and falling for Aidan Turner, who can't help but be attracted to trouble.
1. Chapter 1

"Meredith, we're sending you to Ireland."

The news hit me in the face like a brick. The air was leaving my chest. I was going to Ireland?

"WHAT?! WHAT?! WHY!?" I felt my chest already hurting, my heart beating out of my chest. "Please don't tell me you're shipping me off to Grandma's house! MY GOD! I'm a freaking adult and can't make my own choices!" before I could control my anger, I threw a glass cup against the wall and watched it shatter in to tiny pieces. A part of me wishing I hadn't and the other part telling me to throw another cup in her face.

"THIS IS WHY! THIS IS WHY" my mother's words screamed in my head over and over just like that scenario played in my head over and over again on the plane. My head was resting against the plane window and I watched the clouds pass me by. A social worker was sitting next to me the whole plane trip. She was an older woman with a serious look on her face the whole time she escorted me. I was trouble and I needed to be babysat. No one other than my harsh grandmother to watch her adult grandchild with anger issues; pathetic.

I hear a ding and the following, "The seat belt signs are on and we will soon be descending on to the ground here- -blah blah" I drowned out the noise by putting my headphones in and pulling up my hood so the stupid stewardess wouldn't tell me to take them off because we're landing.

I feel a tap on my shoulder and the social worker indicates to my ears and that I should take them off. I roll my eyes and do so because I'm already in big trouble as it is. "Fuck you guys suck," I whispered as I glared at the window.

"Excuse you," the lady responded with a following, "ungrateful child," under her breath.

"You know, it's ridiculous how old my grandmother is. She was 30 when I was born and my mother was 14 when she had me with my father being 40, who was my grandmother's current squeeze at the time after her going through—oh 22-ish or so boyfriends- That means my grandma was 16 when she popped my mother out of her vagina. I'm grateful that I made it to 22 years old without popping five children out. So, I'm not ungrateful, you blunt bitch."

The lady heaved a sigh, ignoring the fact that I called her a bitch and that I deemed my mother and grandmother as sluts.

"I just don't understand how such a beautiful young girl has such a filthy mouth."

"I blame the mother, she's 36 years old. It's like living with a sister who's a giant gold digger. How else do you think she paid for my care?" I chuckled.

The plane landed and I waited impatiently to make it to the airport of Dublin. I loved new cities, but I did not love my grandmother that was waiting patiently for me as I walked out of the gate. She had her arms crossed around a red leather jacket which had a bustier top under it and some leather pants along with high heels: first class whore-bag in the house. Compared to what I was wearing: a zip up red jacket, jeans and grey converse; she was a whore. I walked up to her, no hug and no happy greetings.

"Well, there's the little bitch," was the first words she said to me.

"Jeez, grandma, it's been like 10 years and that's the first thing you say to me?"

"SSSHHHH, don't call me 'grandma'" – she whispered frantically—"Call me by my name, Meredith."

"Slut-bag-hoe-pants?"

"Seriously, I need a cigarette…" she rubbed her forehead and directed me to baggage claim as she walked over to a coffee stand to grab a coffee.

I sauntered over to the baggage claim and waited for my black suitcase to pop up. As I was, I noticed how Dublin was filled with gorgeous guys. One in particular was staring at me directly in the eyes. I raised an eyebrow and he smiled. He was a handsome fella, one that captivated my gaze immediately: dark curly hair that he kept passed his ears, a deep dark gaze and good fashion sense: you can never resist the plaid shirts.

My bag caught my attention as I quickly reached out and pulled it off the conveyer belt. I walked away, ignoring the guy now because I didn't want to waste my time with men here. I planned on leaving Dublin soon. I was going to push my grandmother –I mean Cathleen- - to the brink.

I see Cathleen waiting patiently with coffee in both of her hands. She handed me one and turned to walk out of the airport with me pulling my suitcase behind me. "You got any smokes?" she asked. I shook my head and sipped at the delicious dark coffee, feeling a bit of relief from it.

"Shit now I will have to stop at the store. I thought you smoked?"

"That's your daughter, Cathleen, not me." I reminded her.

"Oh yeah, my mistake; I get you two confused because you're both equally stupid."

"Gee thanks, Grandma—"

"What the hell, Meredith, did you not hear me earlier. I am not grandma, I am Cathleen."

"Sorry, Gran—I mean slut—I mean bitch-Shit, I keep getting mom and you mixed up too."

We got into her car, a shiny red 69 charger, and I inhaled the beautiful scent of car leather. "Damn, Cathleen, you know how to pick a ride," I give her kudos this time.

"Shit, Mere, you have no idea," she pulls out of the parking spot like a professional driver and races off down the street, speeding like the demon she is.

I guess I was a little bit lucky to get this trip because Dublin was one of the most beautiful cities I had seen in a while. It wasn't like Seattle at all, more folky and less industrial, but still had the urban taste to it. The sight-seeing was cut short though because Cathleen stopped by a store and dragged me along inside. I put my headphones in and my hood up and walked in a different direction as her. She already knows she can reach my on my cellphone when she's done getting her smokes and whatever she needs. I made my way to the alcohol section of the store and look for the usual choice: vodka. I pick up a bottle and walk towards the front to purchase, but I stop dead in my tracks. I noticed the same guy from the airport and he's looking at beer. Before I make a quick getaway, he sees me.

He smiles, "Are you stalkin' me?" his Irish accent would make any girls pants fly off. Not mine, not today.

"Yeah totally, after I watched you leave I managed to follow you to your car which I made my grandmother follow in a high pursuit. First class stalker, of course," I opened the bottle and took a swig.

His eyebrows raised and he looked around the store, "Yer doin' that in public?"

"You work here or something?"

"No, but it just seems odd fer someone to be takin' a drink in a public market."

"Aaah, so you're the alcohol police," I smiled.

He smiles back. "Not really," he picked up his beer.

"Are you drinking that by yourself?" I questioned.

"No, I'm goin' to be seein' my girlfriend tonight."

"Oooooh," I took another swig. "All the hot Irish boys have their hot Irish girls to drink their Irish beer. Maybe if you get sick and tired of her, you'll come take a drink with an American girl with her German vodka." My empty stomach wasn't helping with the alcohol because it affected me faster than I thought. I needed to shut up.

"Maybe," he turned to walk away; completely turned off by my approach.

I shrugged and gulped down a few more drinks before my phone rang.

"Are you done?" I answered the phone.

"Yeah, get your ass up here."

Before I walked up to the counter, I stuffed the vodka in my bag and watched as that guy left with his purchase; he was staring back at me, clearly not too turned off. I walked passed Cathleen, ignoring her and went outside to follow him this time.

"Maybe I am a stalker. What's your name?" I was curious.

"Aidan. What's your name?" he had a big smile, a beautiful smile at that.

"Meredith. Don't forget it. I know you have a girlfriend and all, but…take my number?" I offered, feeling the vodka confidence stream out of my mouth.

"I have a girlfriend."

"We can be friends. I'll be here for a while."

"I'm not going to."

"Why's that?"

"My career keeps me moving."

"Hm, what career is that- -"

"Meredith, already flirting with the locals, are we?" I see Cathleen walking over with a cigarette hanging out of her mouth and a brown bag in her arms.

"Scratch that. My GRANDMOTHER likes to keep me from having friends," I walked passed Aidan and over to the car and attempted to get in; unfortunately it was locked.

"It's Cathleen. I- I'm not her grandmother of course," she chuckles nervously, acting extremely flirty to Aidan. He smiles back at her, obviously being polite. "She has problems that Meredith; I wouldn't waste my time on her. That's why she's here you know- - "

"GRANDMA SHUT UP AND GET IN THE CAR ALREADY BEFORE I GET TOO HAMMERED TO GET INSIDE YOUR HOUSE!"

"Excuse me, hot stuff," she winks at him and walks over to the car. "I fucking told you not to call me grandma! Do you ever listen to me? No! You're just as bad as your mother, maybe worse! Agh, how are you drunk anyway?" she unlocks the car and we both get in simultaneously. She pulls out, leaving Aidan in the parking lot looking extremely confused as to what just happened.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

That night was a complete blur. I just remember getting half way through the vodka before I forgot what happened. My eyes were extremely blurry as I tried to adjust them to the light peeking through a window. I turn over, covered in a fluffy white comforter before I hit my head against someone else. It felt like a hit a brick against my forehead, "Ouch!" followed by a man's groan and a shuffle of the comforter as he turned away from me. I don't think I ever jumped out of a bed as fast as I did this morning; especially with a hangover.

There he was in bed: Aidan.

"Oh!"—I pointed around the room—"…Oh! OH!" I pointed at him.

He groaned again, turned over and rubbed his head as he looked up at me. "Why'dya headbutt me?"

"I have no clue how I got here! What the hell happened last night?! How did I get here? How did you find me? What about your girlfriend!?"

"You know, I wasn't expectin' to wake up to 50 questions." He leaned on his hand.

"Just—agh, what- -how….did this…" I waved my hands indicating to the whole room – "happen?"

"You somehow found me at a local pub. It's quite crazy how it all worked out, right?"

"Was I extremely hammered when I found you there?"

"Yeh, pretty much. You said, I want to come back to yer place. So, I was just as hammered and took you back with me. Here we are," he smiled up at me.

"Well, it is safe to say this shit has never happened to me before. Oh man, I've never had a one night stand…" I felt such shame being put on the same level as my mother and grandmother. I quickly started to look for my clothes, seeing as how I was in my undies and his rather large white t-shirt.

"We didn't have sex, though," he stated.

I stopped dead in my tracks as I picked up my bra. "What. Yeah we did. How come I'm naked and in YOUR shirt?" I held up my bra to indicate that the evidence is there.

"We came home, made out a little bit and you gave me a nice strip show." –he wiggled his eyebrows –"After that little fun dance, you then proceeded to cuddle with me which caused you to fall asleep. I wasn't going to take advantage of you. Sorry to disappoint."

He obviously could read this disappointment on my face because I would've probably loved to score with this Irish God. I had a good excuse to have sex with him too because I was plastered. Even with that thought, a part of me had relief that there's still a guy out there with respect.

"My god, what are you?"

"Apparently an alien," he reminded me of a puppy in some way; openly happy and flirty.

I took off his shirt and put on the rest of my clothes while he watched, clearly amused by part 2 of my show. I threw his shirt on his face and picked up my black messenger bag that sat nicely on a leather chair. "Well, it's been real and it's been fun, but it hasn't been real fun," I began to walk towards his closed door, attempting to leave his room and his overwhelming presence. I could hear him quickly get out of the bed and before I knew it he's blocking the door way I was trying to make my great escape out of.

"Don't go. You just sobered up. How about some breakfast, Meredith?"

"You have food here to cook with?" I questioned. There was one thing I was good at and that was cooking some nice breakfast.

"No, unfortunately, maybe we could go out and eat?"

"Cooking is my thing. I'd prefer it," a good excuse to leave, really.

"My job keeps me from having food in my place," he leans in closer.

"Is that so?" our noses were touching at this point. A part of me wanted to press my lips against his and take off my clothes, again. The other part had taken control though and I pushed him, gently of course, and opened his door to exit in to his living room.

His living room was so classy that I thought a woman designed it, but it still had that male touch to it. Wooden floors, black leather chairs and dark wood furniture sets. I stopped midway from making it to the front door and turned around to realize he was only in black boxer briefs. Dear god, his body was absolutely gorgeous; I wasn't sure how I missed that when he blocked me. "Damn…" I whispered.

His puppy smile returned to his face.

Then, another question came to my mind: "Don't you have a girlfriend?"

"I did," his smile disappeared and the hurt was visible on his face now.

"Sorry, sore subject?"

"She said I didn't spend enough time with her. Which is true, I guess. I haven't had the chance after I worked on all these recent movies…" his thoughts trailed off.

"Movies? You work on movies?"

"I act in movies," he stated; blinking.

"Oh. I guess I don't watch that many to notice."

"I like that."

"You don't like fans?"

"No, I love my fans. I just find it interesting when a girl doesn't know who I am."

"Isn't that a little cocky of you?"

"If you knew what I've been through so far: no."

"Okay, okay. How about that breakfast, then," I gave in. How could I not? All I could think about was that sad face he made.

His face brightened up and immediately he was back in his room. He came out just as fast as he went in wearing a jacket, jeans, and converse plus a fedora and sun glasses: I guess he needed to hide himself. We headed out the door and down the sidewalk of beautiful Dublin.

"So, this place is close by I guess?"

"Yeh, right up the street here; it's an awesome breakfast place."

A small breakfast place, but filled with the fresh smell of eggs and sausage. I've heard of good old Irish breakfast and this time I was going to get the full package: a hot guy and a hot meal.

He picked a booth near the window and the waitress came rushing up too eagerly. A young blonde with large amounts of dark make up covering her eyes; much like a raccoon, "Hi" she stared only at Aidan. He smiled back politely. "My name is Amanda and I'll be yer server today. What drinks can I get you started with?" she blatantly proceeded to stick out her chest.

"Some black coffee and orange juice," I stared up at her, "The fried eggs, sausage, white pudding, black pudding and some bacon. I already know what I want…" the whole time she took my order she kept shifting her glance at Aidan. "Good ole' Irish breakfast, right?"

"Yeh yeh, it's typical…And do you need some time to look for your meal?" she bit her lip, probably willing to stay here until he finds his order.

"Uh…the exact same thing, please."

She winked and walked away from the table.

I smiled at him, "Well, she's such a charmer."

The waitress had magically appeared before us again with our orange juice and coffee. "Anything else I can get you?"

"No thank you," he replied.

She blinked and cleared her throat, probably searching her brain for any other chance to converse with him. She eventually left and we sipped at our coffee finally. More like, Aidan gulped his coffee down and I delicately took my time with mine. "Jeez, I've never seen someone in such a rush with their coffee."

"Yeh, I have an addiction to it. That and cigarettes, unfortunately. I've been tryin' to quit such a bad habit."

"Good luck with that. My mom and grandma have been smoking for years and have attempted to quit countless of times. You could always have a worse habit, I suppose."

"You make a good point. Speaking of grandmother, yours' is quite the charmer herself."

"Ah, yes. Cathleen believes she is still young and all the young boys want to get into her knickers."

"So you visiting with her now?"

"Uh…."

"Your hesitating"

"So?"

"That indicates you're about to lie."

"Ha! What are you?"

"I told you earlier. I'm an alien."

"An acting alien," I corrected him.

The waitress placed our plates down, the food steaming and looking absolutely delicious. A picture perfect Irish breakfast, "Wow, you were right about this place. The food looks like it came right out of the menu—"

"Anything else," interrupted by the waitress: classic.

"No…seriously," I glared up at her; I was attempting to suppress my anger. I didn't want to lose it in front of Aidan.

"Hmph," she turned and left the table.

Aidan was already eating his breakfast, watching the show apparently. I smiled at him and took a bite of my own. "Mmm," this was AMAZING. "First breakfast in Dublin and it did not disappoint."

"Yeh, this place really doesn't disappoint with anything on the menu."

Eventually we managed to talk about how he came from a town called Clondalkin, how he worked in a cinema complex and fell in love with the idea of acting, and the recent movies he's worked on. I played 5 million questions with him, trying to avoid his questions to me because my life didn't sound as interesting or exciting as his. By the time the question I was avoiding had come out, we were in a park, on a bench; people watching. "Tell me about yerself."—he took a drag from his cigarette—"I've just been talkin' and talkin'. I haven't heard anythin' interestin' about you growin' up or how this all came to be."

"Before we get in to that…we're just friends, right? I'm not good at being someone's rebound," changing the subject.

He chuckled (not what I was expecting). "Yeh, I'm not lookin' for a relationship just yet. I just got out of one, but I thought you'd be interestin' to hang out with," he admitted this.

"So do you. I've never had an Irish friend before so this should be fun. You can show me the lovely city of Dublin."

"It's a pretty big city. I don't plan on stayin' here for too long, unfortunately."

That's right. I had forgotten that part. It was like a stab in the chest which was odd because I just met him, but it was like we knew each other already. I was so comfortable around him even though he was very mysterious and unpredictable.

"How long do you plan on staying?"

"Not sure. Just until I find more work, ya know."

"Oh the fun of finding work.. .I'll be pulling one of those soon. If anyone hires me—" oops, I let that hint slip.

"Why wouldn't they?"


End file.
